Christmastime is Here.  But I always get That Christmas Feeling reminding me that Christmas is so much more than a Sleigh Ride Over the River and Through the Woods.  It involves more than Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.  We Deck the Halls with The Holly and the Ivy, Mistletoe and Holly, Pine Cones and Holly Berries, but we prepare our hearts for more.

Do You Hear What I Hear?  Ding Dong! Merrily On High, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, but they were more than Silver Bells, Silver and Gold Jingle Bells.  No, the Carol of the Bells declares much more. 

As we celebrate Christmas, we are taken back to The First Noel, when, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear on that Silent Night.  Away in a Manger, in a Little Town of Bethlehem, In royal David’s City, the world first celebrated the Birthday of a King.  Oh Holy Night, When A Child Is Born, willingly saying “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come.”  A Savior is Born!  Mary’s Boy Child!  Sweet Little Jesus Boy!

But What Child is This, that While Shepherds Watched, Angels, From the Realms of Glory come to earth to witness this event.  Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, declaring In excelsis Gloria.  Still, Still, Still.  It was A Baby Like You and me, only the Son of God, Eternal Savior.  Christ is Born in Bethlehem, who is the Greatest Gift of All.

The Shepherds Went Their Hasty Way, they declared to Mary, Dear Mother of Jesus, “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  The Friendly Beasts, the Little Drummer Boy, and, eventually following the Star of the East, Three Kings of  Orient Are all that are present to see this sight.  One has to ask of the rest of the world, Do they Know It’s Christmas?

Oh Come, All Ye Faithful, O Come Little Children, let us like Good King Wenceslas come Rejoice, The Lord is King.  Rejoice, Rejoice All Believers, not just Angels and Shepherds!

Joy to the World, Christ is born. Rejoice and be Glad, Rejoice and be Merry. Christmas day is The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year, but it is so much more than a day – it is The Holiday Season that lasts the full The 12 Days of Christmas and all year through.

So, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and ask you to remember that when we sing The Christmas Song, we Sing of God, the Greatest Good.  Sing We Noel this Christmas.  So Go, Tell It on the Mountain, Up On the Rooftop and everywhere else.  Sing the Carol, Raise Your Voices!  Come On, Ring Those Bells, ring them until the Jingle Bell Rock.  Ring Merrily!  Bells will be ringing, and yes, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, too, With Bells On.

So God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and women.  Sleep Well, Little Children. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.  And Let There Be Peace On Earth, peace made possible by Jesus.  This is What Christmas Means To Me.

(Hidden among these rambling thoughts are the titles of at least 80 Christmas carols and tunes.  Have a Merry Christmas.)